10.3886/ICPSR07703.v1United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice StatisticsPublic Image of Courts, 1977: General Public DataInter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research1984court systemjudgesjudicial processjustice1984-03-181997-02-25197777031This data collection and its companion study, PUBLIC IMAGE
OF COURTS, 1977: SPECIAL PUBLICS DATA (ICPSR 7704), were undertaken to
explore attitudes toward
courts and justice. These surveys sought to measure perceptions of and
experiences with local, state, and federal courts as well as general
attitudes toward the administration of justice and legal actors. The
general objectives of the studies were to (1) determine levels of public
knowledge of courts, (2) test reactions to situations that might, or
might not, prompt recourse to courts, (3) determine the incidence,
nature, and evaluations of court experience, (4) describe and account
for evaluations of court performance, (5) indicate attitudes toward
legal actors, and (6) indicate reactions to alternative means of dispute
resolution. Two samples were drawn: a national sample of the general
public and a "special publics" sample of judges, lawyers, and
community leaders (ICPSR 7704). The 1,931 respondents in the general
public sample were interviewed in person by the National Consumer
Field Staff of Yankelovich, Skelly, and White, Inc.